Career mode - impossible targets?

I'm doing my first season with Lotus right now on the hardest difficulty possible, and the first two races I've been told to qualify 20th and finish 18th. Thing is, first race, I finished 19th with more than two laps separating me and 18th. Am I actually expected to be able to do this? As I don't think the Lotus has the pace to take on Williams or Force India.

I finished ahead of my team mate, HRT and Virgin. Surely that's the best result this team could expect right now, isn't it? At least, with retirements being as infrequent as they are in this game.